A guide for carrying out a fishbone diagram

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What is a Fishbone Diagram?
A fishbone diagram (also known as an Ishikawa
diagram) is a visual representation of the causes of
problems or any barriers to improvement. When
complete it resembles the skeleton of a fish (hence
the name).
When would you use this tool?
You would use this tool when you need to explore
the root causes of problems within a process or
system. It is also a useful tool that you may use to
identify the different variables that contribute to
process performance.
What are the benefits of using this tool?
This tool enables the whole team to come together to share their knowledge and explore possible
problem causes. It allows everyone involved to have a voice and is a good way to identify areas to
improve quality
Who needs to be involved?
All stakeholders involved in the process of the
system being explored need to take part so that
they can contribute their own experience and ideas.
What resources do I need?
 A room with wall space
 Roll of paper or flipchart paper
 Marker pens/Post-it notes
How do you do it?
Step 1: Write the effect or aim in a box on the right hand side of the page (to form the fish’s head).
Step 2: Draw a horizontal line to the left of the effect to form the fish’s spine (see over for template).
Step 3: Brainstorm the main categories where problems may occur. Common categories include people,
methods, equipment, environment, materials and communication.
Step 4: Draw diagonal fish-bones radiating out above and below the horizontal fish-spine, to form the
fish’s skeleton and use each of your chosen problem categories as a heading for each.
Step 5: As a team, brainstorm the possible problems or barriers that occur within each category, write
these on the fishbone diagram, adding extra branches to the fish skeleton to drill down into sub-causes
of the problems identified.
Fishbone
Diagram
ABC
improvement
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Hints & Tips
It may be useful for the team to write all possible
causes of the problem on post-it notes first. These
can then be added to the diagram later and similar
causes can then be grouped together.
Next Steps
Choose an area for improvement and look at
possible ways this could be addressed.

2. © ABCi 2019
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